Conroe children rescue dolphin while on spring break

Billy Mau

Published
7:00 pm CDT, Monday, April 4, 2005

"We just walked right up to it and wow," Kim Haley said about a beached dolphin she and her daughters found.

They were walking along Crystal Beach March 22 when they encountered a baby dolphin that had floated up to the shore. Haley called the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network and stayed with the dolphin for two hours while the rescue team was dispatched.

"He was in shock, and they told us to keep it wet, but not to get water in his mouth or blowhole," Haley said.

"They both want to be veterinarians, so they wanted to help the animal," Haley said.

Danielle and Rachel said they weren't afraid of the dolphin, which measured approximately 3 feet in length.

"We had to keep digging to keep it from getting buried in the sand," Rachel said.

Haley said they learned a lot about dolphins as they helped the baby dolphin stay alive until rescue workers arrived. She said they were able to feel the dolphin's pulse, pet it and spoke to it to help soothe the frightened mammal.

"Their skin is like a cat's tongue," Haley said. "It's not smooth to the touch like it looks."

Danielle also said touching the dolphin was not what she expected.

"It was weird," she said.

Haley said she has not been able to find out whether the dolphin survived after the rescue team took it away. Haley said she plans to visit the TMMSN's offices on her family's next trip to the beach to find out how things turned out for the dolphin.

"The girls have been telling me that they wanted to go to Sea World so they could touch the dolphins," Haley said. "Now they were able to do it in the real world."

Unfortunately, the dolphin did not survive the ordeal. Trish Hessel, interim state operations coordinator for TMMSN, said the baby dolphin was approximately 3 weeks old and that it died while still on the beach.

The dolphin "stranding season" occurs December through March, Hessel said, and it is not uncommon for young dolphins to become separated from their mothers.

"It's not unusual for that to happen," Hessel said. "But it is unusual for dolphins of that age and size to come in (on the beach) alive. This little guy didn't show any outward appearance of problems other than going a few days without feed. The stress of being beached will push them over the edge.

"It's also the calving season for female dolphins, and not all the babies are going to make it."